Door-lock



(Modem J. P. THOMPSON.

DOOR. LUCK.

No. 427,131. Patented May 6, 1890.

UNITED STATES JAMES F. THOMPSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

DOOR-LOCK.l

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 427,131, dated May 6, 1890.

Application vled ehruary 18, 1889. Serial No. 300,324. (Model.)

To all whom it nfl/ty concern:

Beit known that I, JAMES F. THOMPSON, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door-Locks; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in combination-locks of that kind shown in a prior patent, No. 407,262, dated July 16, 1889.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter described, and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, Figure l is a face View of the lock, the door being shown as broken away, so as to disclose the interiorparts of the lock. Fig. 2 is a plan section of the same, taken upon line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view taken upon line 3 3 of Fig.

Y 2. Fig. 4 is a detail view showing one of the adjustable stops of the lock removed from place. Fig. 5 is a detail section taken upon line 5 5 of Fig. 1, illustrating means for connecting electric wires with a part of the lock.

As illustrated in the said drawings, A and B are handles or knobs by which the boltlock is actuated, of which the knob A- is the outside knob and B the inside knob.

C D E F are push-pins, which are employed for actuating the combination mechanism of the lock. Said push-pins are placed at the outer face of the door, adjacent to the knob A, and are connected-with the combination mechanism within the lock in such manner that the outside knob can be turned to withdraw the bolt only after the push-buttons have been manipulated in apartioular pre` determined manner.

The knob A is provided with a spindle a, which turns with the knob and is provided inside of the lock-casing with a rigid arm A', which extends upwardly from the spindle. Said spindle is also provided with a second rigid arm A2, provided at its end remote from the spindle with a pin ci', which projects from one side of said arm into a slot g of the bolt G. The bolt is thrown or cast by a spring, which, in the instance illustrated, is of leat' form, as indicated in dotted lines at H, and is arranged to press downwardly upon the horizontal arm of a bell-crank lever H', the vertical arm of which acts against the rear end of the bolt G. The pin a. of the arm A2 acts against the inner end of the slot g when the spindle is turned to withdraw the bolt, said .slot g allowing the b olt to be thrust backwardly independently of the knob-spindle, as common in spring-latches. Said slot g also allows the bolt to be operated independently of the spindle a and combination mechanism which controls said spindle through the medium of the knob B. Said knob B is attached to a spindle b, which is made separate from and adapted to turn independently of the spindle a. Said spindle b is provided with a rigid arm B, which is provided witha slot b', adapted to engage a pin g in the bolt vG. When the knob B is turned, the bolt will obviously be moved through the medium of the said arm B.

The combination mechanism embraces as its main features one or more tumblers adapted to obstruct the movement of the arm A', except when the tumbler or tumblers are in certain positions. The lock illustrated is provided with three of said tumblers, as shown at I I I2. rlhe several tumblers are placed upon a common shaft or pivot I3, arranged parallel with the knob-spindles, and are circular or of disk shape in form. Each of said tumblers is provided with a notch, as indicated at i z" i2, Fig. 1, and the notches of the several tumblers are adapted to come opposite the arm A of the spindle when the tumblers are turned into position with the notches opposite each other, thereby allowing the movement of the said arm and spindle in a direction to withdraw the bolt, the tumblers being arranged to prevent the movement of said arm in the direction mentioned, except when the said notches of the spindles are in line with each other opposite the arm. The notches are herein shown as made of curved form and arranged to receive a tooth or proj ection CL2 upon the arm A 5 but said arm and notches may be made of other shape with the same effect. Said tumblers are actuated by springs or weights in a direction to carry the notches away from the arm A. In the particular construction shown the IOO tumblers are weighted, or have a preponderance of weight at one side of the pivot I3, so that when left'free to turn they will swing into position with the notches thereof remote from the said arm A. The movement of the tumblers in the direction described is limited by means of a plurality of stops 7o 7c k2 upon the frame, said stops being made separately adjustable in order that the tumblers may be arrested at different points, as hereinafter more fully set forth. The tumblers are each provided with ratchet-teeth, as shown at I4, Fig. l, which teeth are arranged concentric with the pivots of said tumblers.

L L L2 are bodily-movable actuating-pawls adapted to engage said ratchet-teeth in such manner as to move or turn the tumblers in a direction to carry the notches of the tumblers toward the arm A. Said actuating-pawls are mounted upon and moved by a series of slide-bars M M M2, arranged to move in vertical planesparallel with the face of the door, said bars being desirably located at the top of the lock-case above the tumblers.

N N N2 are three detent-pawls, which engage the ratchet-teethof the tumblers and hold the latter from backward movement when turned by the actuating-pawls. The actuating-pawls L L L2 may act by gravity or otherwise. As herein shown, their free ends are thrown downwardly,in position to engage the ratchet-teeth of the tumblers, by springs l, attached to the slide-bars and acting on the pawls. Said slide-bars are herein shown as mounted in guide-slots formed in transverse arms or bars M3 M3, secured upon the lock-casing.

.` The several slide-bars are actuated from the push-pins C E F by devices as follows: O O O2 are three bell-crank levers arranged adjacent to the inner ends of the push-pins and provided with arms parallel with the side of the door, against the free ends of which said push-pins are adapted to act. Said bellcrank levers vare provided with other arms arranged horizontally and transverse to the face of the door, and which are engaged with the several slide-bars M M M2. The ends of the several bell-crank levers which engage the slide-bars are provided with slots, in which are inserted pins m fm m2, attached to hori- Zontal arms m3 m4m5 upon the slide-bars, the arms upon the rear slide-bars being arranged to extend horizontally overthe forward slidebars, so as to support the several pins m fm m2 at the same distance from the side of the lock-case, so that the several push-pins have the same extent of movement. The slides are severally moved in a direction to carry forward the tumblers by the push-pins acting through the bell-crank levers, and in the opposite direction by means of springs P P P2, secured to the side of the lock-case and acting against the ends of the slides.

For the purpose of freeing the actuatingpawls from the ratchet-teeth as the slide-hars are moved backwardly by the springs P P P2, said pawls are adapted to engage at their lower edges with a transversely-arranged horizontal pin L3 vupon the lock-casing, thereby obviating liability of the free backward movement of the tumblers being interfered with by the pawls. The springs P P P2 may be alone relied upon to thrust the push-pins outward; but, as herein shown, Fig. 2, said push-pins are provided with separate spiral springs for this purpose.

When a number of tumblers are present, as in the lock herein illustrated, the stops 7c 7c k2 will be arranged in different angular positions, so that the tumblers will need to be moved different distances to bring all the notches thereof in line with each other and opposite the arm A. The means shown for adjustably sustaining the said stops Zo Ze k2 are as follows: Said stops are attached to curved strips K K K2, which are adapted to iit side by side in a curved guideway K3, arf ranged con'centricallywith the pivot of the tumblers, said strips being adapted to slide endwise in the said guideway, so that the stops may be brought into any position desired. with relation to the teeth or spurs 'i3 t4 t5 on the disks, which are constructed to e'ngage the said stops. To enable the strips to be adjustably secured in the curved guideway, said strips are provided each with a plurality of notches, and a removable pin K4 is inserted transversely through the side walls of the guideway K3 and through one of the notches in each of the strips. Said notches in the strips are desirably arranged at the same angular distance apart as the ratchetteeth of the tumblers, so that by withdrawing said pin K4 the strips may be easily shifted and secured in new positions for changing the combination, the number of movements for each push -pin required for bringing the tumblers actuated thereby into position with its notch opposite the arm A depending, of course, upon the angular position of the stop which limits the backward movement of the tumbler.

The parts above described are constructed and operated in substantially the same inanner as the corresponding parts shown and described in the said prior patent, the several tumblers being moved to bring the notches thereof opposite the end of the arm A by actuating the push-pins a suiiicient number of times to turn each tumbler sufficiently to bring the notch therein opposite the arm A.

The lock herein shown contains, as an important feature of improvement over that illustrated in said prior application, an additional or auxiliary push-pin D, which resembles in appearance the push-pins C, E, and F, but which is adapted, when actuated, to release the detent-pawls from the tumblers and to thereby allow the saine to swing around in a direction to carry the notches away .from the arm A and thus set the combination in a manner to prevent the withdrawal of the bolt. The said push-pin D being exactly like IOC IIO

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tent-pawls.

the other push-pins, itA is entirely obvious that in case a person not familiar with the combination attempts to operate the pushpins such person will by actuating the pushpin D canse the return of the tumblers to their thrown-off position or locked position every time the said push-pin D is thrust inwardly.

The devices herein shown for actuating the detent-pawls N N N2 in the manner described are made as follows: M4 is an additional or auX- iliary slide-bar similar to the slide-bars M M M2, and provided with a pin m, engaged with a bell-crank lever O3, which is arranged and operates in the saine manner as the bell-crank levers O O O2. Said pin m4 is attached to an arm m7, by which the pin is sustained in alignment with the pins m m m2. The said slidebar M4 is provided with a depending arm M5, arranged adjacent to and extending beneath the detent-pawls N N N2, and is provided with a horizontal cross bar or pin M4, whichA engages the under surface of all of said de- The said pin M6 engages downwardly and rearwardlj,T inclined or curved parts or surfaces of the pawls, so that when the said pin M6 is carried horizontally in a direction away from the tu mblers by an endwise movement of the slide-bar M4 the springdetents will be lifted ont of engagement with the said tumblers. It follows from this construction that every time the push-button D is actuated the slide-bar M4 and pin MG will'be moved or shifted andthe several detent-pawls released from the tumblers, so as to allow the latter to swing' around until the lugs or projections i3 4 thereof engage the several stops k k k2.

In constructing locks containing an auX- iliary push-pin arranged and operating in the manner above described, said push-pin will not in all instances be located in the same relat-ion to the other push-pins. In other words, either of the push-pins C, D, E, and F may be arranged to operate abell-crank lever engaging the slide-bar M4, so that in no instance will the person who is not acquainted with the disposition of the push-pins of a particular lock have knowledge as to which pushpin is the throwin g-off or auxiliary one. Vhen one of the tumblers is moved by actuating one of the push-pins, the passage of the detent-pawl over each of the ratchet-teeth produces a noise or click which indicates to the ear that the tumbler has been moved, and it 'is desirable, therefore, that the movement of the auxiliary or throwing-off push-pin should be accompanied by a corresponding noise or click, in order that a person tampering with alock may be unable to tell by the sound produced which of the push-pins are the operative pins and which are the auxiliary or throwing-off pins. It is desirable, therefore,

that a movement of the auxiliary pin should produce noise or click similar to that produced by the detent-pawls, and for this purpose I. have provided a spring-pawl which will operate upon a tooth or projection moved by or with the auxiliary push-pin when the latter is actuated, so as to produce a noise or click similar to that produced by thepassage of the detent-pawl over a tooth of one of the tumblers. A device of this kind may be made in a great variety of ways, that herein lshown being of simple form, and consisting, as clearly shown in Fig. 3, of a' spring-pawl P5, the free end of which presses upwardly toward the slide-bar M4 and engages a tooth 19 upon a pivoted dog` P3, mounted in the slide-bar. Said dog is weighted, so as to hold the tooth p thereof normally in position to engage the end of the spring-pawl P5, while allowing the said tooth to yield upwardly and pass over the end of the push-pin in the backward or ireturn movement of the slide-bar. It is entirely obvious, for instance, that whenthe parts are in position sho'wn in Fig. 3 and the slide-bar is moved forward or in thedirection of the arrow by pushing inwardly upon the push-pin D the end of the pawl P5 will pass over the tooth p and make a noise or click in so doing. In the movement of the slide-bar in the opposite direction the abrupt or vertical face of the tooth will strike the end of the spring-pawl, and the tooth will be thrown backwardly thereby, so as to pass over ,the pawl, and will drop behind the end of the pawl after passing the same, as shown in Fig. 3.

The contact of the several lugs/t' t" 2 of the tumblers with the stops 7c le' k2, when the said tumblers are released by the operation of the auxiliary push-button, is likely to indicate to the ear that said push-button has been operated, so that a careful observer might ascertain by a sound thus produced as v to which is the auxiliary push-button. I therefore provide means to prevent any consider- IOO able noise or click in the contact of said lugs t' t" t2 with the said stops by constructing the contact-faces'of the lugs or stops of a nonresonant metal, like lead or solder, or with a cushion of rubber or similar material. A construction of this kind is illustrated in Fig. 4, wherein B4 indicates a block of rubber, leather, or other similar material inserted in a notch B5 in the end of the cur-ved strip K, which supports the stop Za. Q is a slide mounted on the inside of the door and provided With an inwardly-extending arm, which engages the pin m4 of the slide-bar M4, so that by actuating said slide the detent-pawls N may be lifted free from the tumblers and the latter allowed to return to their thrown-olf or locked position` thereby affording a convenient means of throwing off or setting the combination from the inside of the door. A spring Q is preferably applied to move the slide; but the spring P4, which actuates the slide-bar M4, may alone serve this purpose. In the particular lock herein shown, however, the arm A of the outer knob-spindle is arranged to release the detent-pawlsv from the tumblers and throw oft' the combination IIC by turning said knob backwardly in the same manner described in the application for patent hereinbeforementioned. The inner knob, however, `is preferably made independently of the combination, so that it will operate the bolt Iat any time, and when the parts are so made the slide Q is necessary to enable the combination to be set from the inside of the door.

rlhe lock herein illustrated is provided with an exposed movable plate S, secured in theA front plate of the lock, to which plate the guideway K3, sustaining the curved strips K K K2, is rigidly attached in the same manner as set forth in said prior application. As an improved means of holding the said guideway K3 and plate S in place, While enabling the same to be easily and quickly removed for changing the combination in the lock, these parts are herein shown as constructed as follows: The guideway K3 is provided in one of itsside walls or elsewhere with a horizontal slot s, open at its inner end and adapted to engage a pin s', fixed in the side wall of thelock-casing. Said pin and slot are adapted to hold the lower andinner part of the guideway K3 accurately in vertical position. The upper edge of the plate S overlaps an adjacent part S of the front plate of the lock, and a screw S2 is inserted through said plate S into the part S. Said screw is provided inside of the plate S with a collar s2, which forms a shoulder adapted to bear against the inner face of said plate and holds the screw from endwise movement in the plate. By reason of the presence of the shoulder formed by said collar S2, when the screw S2 is backed out of the part S', the entire plate S and the parts connected therewith will be moved or carried outwardly, thereby enabling the said plate, together with the guideway, to be easily and quickly removed from the lock-easing. ln again inserting the said parts the slots s, by engaging the pin s', holds the guideway accurately `in position, while at the same time allowing the parts to be carried inwardly to place by the turning of the screw S2, in the manner hereinbefore described.

As a separate and further improvement in a combination-lock having an auxiliary or throwing-off push-pin operating in the manner described, I propose to arrange an electric circuit which will be closed by the movement of the parts actuated by the said auxiliary push-pin, and which will ring a bell located at adesired point to inform the inmates of the house or apartment that an attempt is being made to open the door by a person unfamiliar with the combination. For this purpose I have herein showna circuit-closing device which is made as follows: R is a flat spring secured to the lock-casing by screw fr r, electrically insulated therefrom. The fr'ee end of said spring is provided with a pin R', which extends inwardly through the lockcasing, with its inner ends behind the spring P,l which actuates the slide-bar M.

Said pinl R is so arranged that when the slide-bar is moved by the push-pin the spring will `come in contact with the said pin R', and the same will be pushed outwardly.

R2 is a metal arm, which is attached to the lock-casing by a screw r', Fig. 3, and is also electrically insulated therefrom. Said arm R2 extends over or outside of the end of the spring R, so that the latter will come in contact with the arm when pushed outwardly by the contact of the spring P4 with the pin R. One of the conducting-wires forming part of the electrical circuit leading to an electric bell and battery is connected with the spring R,

and the other wire is connected with the metal arm R2, so that when the said springR is pressed outwardly in contact with the arm R2 the circuit is closed.

As a simple and convenient construction by which the electric wires may be easily connected with the spring R and arm R2, I construct said parts as follows: Said strip R is provided with a part or arm r2,which is bent outwardly into a plane parallel with the face of the lock-case, said part r2 being located at the side of the lock-case adjacent to the inner face of the door, as clearly shown in Fig. 5. The arm R2, which is preferably made of sheet metal, is provided with a similar bent piece or arm r2.

R3 ReL are metal screws inserted through the door and bearing against the said arms r2 r2, and to the outer ends of which the electric wires are connected. As shown in Fig. 5, the screw R3 is provided with a head R5, in the form of a binding-post, to facilitate the attachments of wires, and both screws may be made in this manner, or otherwise, yas desired. The advantage of this construction is, that the lock-case, with the spring R and arm R2, provided with parts r2 r2, arranged as described, may be inserted in a inortyise of a door and the screws R3 then inserted through the door until they come in contact with said ,parts Ir2 r3, thereby affording a simple and convenient means of connecting the electric wires with the circuit-closing device of the lock.

I claim as my inventionl. The combination,with the bolt and knobspindle, of a tumbler controlling the movement of the bolt, said tumbler being provided with ratchet-teeth, a detent-pawl engaging the ratchet-teeth of the tumbler to hold the same from backward movement, an actuating-pawl acting upon said tumbler to move the latter,

a push-pin acting upon said actuating-pawl to move the same, a moving part' acting upon the said detent-pawl to release the same from the tumbler, and an additional or auxiliary push-pin acting upon said movable part and operating to release the tumbler whensaid auxiliary push-pin is moved, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination, with the bolt and knobspindle, of a plurality of tumblers controlling the movement of the bolt, said tumblers be- IOO IIO

ing provided with ratchet-teetli, slide-bars moving in plan es parallel with the tumblers, actuating-pawls mounted upon' said slidebars, bell-crank levers connected with said slide-bars, push-pins acting upon said bellcrank levers, detent pawls engaging the ratchet-teetli of the tiiinblers to hold the same from backward movement, an additional or auxiliary slide-bar engaging with and moving said detent-pawls, and an auxiliary push-pin actuating said auxiliary slide-bar, substantially as described.

3. The co1nbination,with the pawl and knobspindle, of a tumbler controlling the movenient of the bolt, said tumbler being provided with ratchet-teeth, a detent-pawl engaging the ratchet-teeth of the tumbler to hold the same from backward movement, an actuat-ing-pawl acting upon said tumbler, a push-pin acting upon said actiiating-pawl to move the same, a movable part acting upon the said detent-pawl to release the same from the tumbler, an additional or auxiliary pushpin acting upon said movable part to release the tumbler when said auxiliary push-pin is moved, and means operated by said auxiliary push-pin constructed to produce a noise or click similar to that produced in the movement of the tumbler by the other push-pin, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with the bolt and knobspindle, of a plurality of tumblers controlling the movement of the bolt, said tumblers being provided with ratchet-teeth, slide-bars moving in planes parallel with the tumblers, actuating-pawls mounted upon said slidebars, bell-crank levers connected with said slide-bars, push-pins acting upon said bellcrank levers, detent pawls engaging the ratchet-teeth of the tumblers to hold the same from backward movement, an additional or auxiliary slide-bar engaged with and moving said detent-pawls, an auxiliary push-pin actuating said auxiliary slide-bar, a movable dog mounted upon said slide-bar and provided with a tooth p, and a spring-pawl acting upon said tooth to make a noise or click when the said auxiliary slide-bar is moved, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with the bolt and knobspindle, of a notched tumbler provided with ratchet-teeth, a detent-pawl engaging said ratchet-teeth, an actuating-pawl acting upon said tumbler to move the same, a stop adjustably mounted on the lock frame and adapted to engage the said tumbler, a pushpin moving said actuating-pawl, and an auxiliary push-pin acting upon the detent-pawl to release the latter from the ratchet-teeth of the tumbler, the contact-surface of the said stop or tumbler being made of non-resonant material to prevent noise in the contact of the same, substantially as described.

6. The combination, with the bolt and knobspindle, of a tumbler controlling the movement of the bolt, said tumbler being provided with ratchet-teeth, a detent-pawl engaging the ratchet-teeth of the tumbler to holdthe same from backward movement, an actuatingpawl acting upon said tumbler to move the latter, a push-pin acting upon said actuatingpawl to move the same, amoving part acting upon the said detent-pawl to release thesame from the tumbler, an additional or auxiliary push-pin acting u pon said movable part and operating to release the tumbler when said auxiliary push-pin is moved, and a circuitclosing device operated by the movement of said auxiliary push-pin for closing an electric-alarm circuit, substantially as described.

7. The combination, with the bolt and knobspiiidle, of aplurality ot' tumblers controlling the movement of the bolt, said tumblers being provided withratchet-teeth, slide-.bars moving in planes parallel with the tumblers, actuating-parvis mounted upon said slide-bars, bell-crank levers connected with said slidebars, push-pins acting upon said bell-crank levers, detent-pawls engaging the ratchetteeth of the tumblers to hold the same from l backward movement, an additional or auxiliary slide-bar engaged with and moving said detent-pawls, an auxiliary push-pin actuating said auxiliary slide-bar, and a circuitclosing device operated by the movement of the said auxiliary slide-bar, substantially as described.

8. The combination, with the bolt and knobspindle, of a notched tumbler provided with ratchet-teetli, a detent-pawl, a bodily-movable actuating-pawl, an exposed removable plate secured to the lock-frame, a stop adjustably mounted on said removable plate and adapted to engage the tumbler, and a screw connecting the said removable plate with the lock-frame, said screw being provided witli a shoulder bearing against the 1nner surface of the plate, substantially as described.

9. The combination, with the bolt and knobspindle, ot' a notched tumbler provided with ratchet-teeth, a detent-pawl, an actuatingpawl, an exposed removable plate attached to the lock-frame, a curved strip provided with a projection forminga stop for the tumbler, a curved guide attached to said removable plate and supporting said strip, said curved guide being provided with a horizontal slot, a pin secured in the lock-frame and engaging said slot to sustain the inner end of the curved guide, and a screw for attaching the said. exposed plate to the lock-frame, said screw being provided with a shoulder bearing against the in ner surface of the said plate, substantially as described. v

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES F. THOMPSON, Witnesses:

M. E. DAYTON, C. CLARENCE PooLE.

CID

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